We’re still waiting on ‘smartbands’ for our Apple Watch

“A smarter watch band will play a crucial role in Apple Watch’s future as a personal technology device as they begin to incorporate technology and gain additional importance for wearable computing,” Dennis Sellers writes for Apple World Today.

“We haven’t seen any yet, but I do think they’re coming,” Sellers writes. “[An] Apple patent (number 20160094259) describes a wearable device that’s coupled to a band including multiple modular functional band links that are each electrically and mechanically connected to one or more other of the band links and/or the wearable device and include one or more electronic components. In various implementations, the wearable device (the Apple Watch) may receive identifiers from each of the band links, determine functionality available using the identifiers, and communicate with the band links to utilize the determine functionality.”

“Last year BGR said that Apple plans to introduce interchangeable “smart watch bands” that add various functionality to the smartwatch without added complexity, and without increasing the price of the watch itself. This could also mean that the glucose monitoring feature will be implemented as part of a smart band, rather than being built into the watch hardware,” Sellers writes. “BGR also said that a camera band that adds a camera to the watch is another possibility, or a band that contains a battery to extend battery life.”

Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple Smartbands™.

• Whoever comes up with an accurate Apple Watch smartband that acts as a non-invasive blood glucose monitor (reverse iontophoresis) is going to make a mint. — MacDailyNews, August 24, 2015

• Oh yes, let there be add-on GPS, battery extenders, and more! The thought of wearing our Apple Watch Sports but also having to lug around our iPhones on runs just for the GPS is unpalatable. — MacDailyNews, March 5, 2015

• We can’t wait to see where the future leads for Apple Watch especially in the areas of speed (apps need to respond faster) and independence (less reliance on iPhone, perhaps via Apple “smartbands” that deliver things like GPS tracking for runners, extended battery life, etc.) — MacDailyNews, December 17, 2015

• We would love to see Apple launch Apple Smartbands that add sensor and other functionality to Apple Watch. An Apple GPS Smartband and an Apple Battery Smartband, right now, would sell like wildfire. It’s a missed opportunity for the original Apple Watch’s first Christmas, but we hope to see such items in 2016. — MacDailyNews, December 11, 2015

• If Apple were to release a range of “Apple Smartbands” for the existing Apple Watch, starting with the “Apple Smartband GPS,” they would sell millions more Apple Watch units with this move alone. — MacDailyNews, February 19, 2016

• Since Apple Watch Series 2 gave us GPS and freed us from having to schlep along our iPhones on runs, we can’t count the times we’ve wished we had a camera on our Apple Watches. Look at that sunset! Look at that ocean! Look at that three-legged one-eyed dog!

Doesn’t look like this will happen until the Watch is updated again so even the latest Watches won’t be compatible. The smart bands would require a smart connector on the Watch so that it “just works” as soon as you attach it.